Criminal Lawyers Can’t Always Get Your Case Dismissed

Television does some funny things to us. We all know that it’s fake. We all know that the characters played on television are just acting, that the stories are just made up, and that the outcomes are predetermined before the final scene. But we can’t help but take a little bit of the fantasy world and translate that to reality, particularly when it benefits us personally. Trust me, I’m a Seattle criminal lawyer and I see it every day.

The first way I see it is in what people expect just in terms of appearance. If you say criminal lawyer Seattle, or criminal attorney New York, or criminal lawyer anywhere, an image immediately pops into your mind, usually depending on the types of television shows you watch. If you watch Boston Legal, you think of Denny Crane and Alan Shore out there kicking butt on every case working in a high rise. If you watch The Practice, you think of Bobby Donnel mixing it up. But no matter who you think of, they usually look good, they look tough, and they are ready to pounce on anything.

The second way people think is that criminal lawyers can always get your case dismissed. Like there is some secret smoking gun out there or some magical way to convince a jury that even though you were caught red handed and confessed that you didn’t do it. Or that the prosecutor will just roll over. If you watch some of these shows, you might think the defendant always gets away (and if you watch some you might think you are toast). But no matter what you think, if it is based on what you see on television, it’s not going to be very accurate.

Being a Seattle criminal lawyer, I’ve learned a couple of things. First, things rarely work like they do on television. Second, prosecutors don’t like to dismiss a case and will hold on to the last second before doing so. And third, some of the time a case is really bad and it’s all you can do to just control the damage.

If you find yourself in trouble, go out there and hire a criminal attorney as soon as you can. They really can help. Just don’t expect to get your case dismissed the moment you show up in court.